Love and Pain go Hand in Hand
by smilingostrich
Summary: This is my take on what happens in between the Crystal Catacombs and The Awakening. Yes, it does involve Katara crying. :/ JK


**Love and Pain go Hand in Hand**

**Author's note:** This is basically about what happened in between the Crystal Catacombs and The Awakening. MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE CROSSROADS OF DESTINY!

**Disclaimer: **All you have to do is look online. Is my name there when it says who owns Avatar? I thought not. Okay. JUST LOOK ONLINE BRO! =\

Sokka awoke in the middle of the night to faint crying in the room next to his. It had been a week since Azula had shot Aang in Ba Sing Se and everyone was distraught, particularly Katara. She wouldn't leave Aang's side. Sokka quietly stepped out into the hallway of the captured fire nation ship, silently opening the door to the room that Aang and Katara were in. Sokka's heart nearly broke at what he saw. Katara was on her knees, bending over Aang's body, clutching his hand as tears streamed down her face. Suddenly she whipped her head around and gave Sokka a deadly glare.

"What do you want?" she asked bitterly, her blue eyes bloodshot.

"I want you to try and sleep," Sokka said calmly.

"No," Katara said in such a firm voice that Sokka nearly fell over backwards. "He needs me," she said vehemently. Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

"Are you sure it isn't the other way around?" he asked, catching Katara off guard. She froze, and then her glare softened. She turned away from him, her small frame racking with sobs.

"Why?" she asked Sokka, looking at him with eyes that were so hurt and confused. "Why do I feel this way?" Sokka pulled his sister into a hug.

"I'm guessing it's because you're in love with him," he said without a moment's hesitation. Katara jumped up, blushing.

"Why would you think that?" she asked incredulously. Sokka just shook his head, smiling. Katara gave a weary sigh, defeated. After a moment she spoke, her voice so quiet that Sokka almost couldn't hear her. "You remember when Mom died?" she asked, her eyes sad and regretful.

"I wouldn't be able to forget if I tried," Sokka said, not quite sure where this was going.

"Imagine that feeling of absolute adoration that you have for someone really close to you, like mom, and then having them die," she said, choosing her words carefully. Sokka nodded, but in his mind he was reliving that day when the Fire Nation came and nearly destroyed their entire village. Katara continued. "That feeling—" she stopped, choking with sobs, "times ten." Sokka knew what she was talking about, but she clarified anyways. "That was what it was like. If he died, Sokka—I don't know _what_ I would have done!" He looked at his sister, sorrow welling up in his chest. He had promised his dad that he wouldn't let any harm come to Katara, never let her feel this hurt. But he had failed him. And it wasn't because of physical pain, no, this was definitely not what Sokka had expected. _I should've known,_ he thought to himself. "It was even worse than when mom died," she said. "I realized, in that moment when he fell, that I was in love with him. Sure, I'd thought about it before, you know, _us_, but it was never really that clear until he started to fall. Something clicked and I just… I just turned into an emotional ball of… of emotions! There's no other way to explain it!" She was pacing around the room now, every now and then stopping to cast a longing look at Aang. Sokka was getting upset himself. He'd _never_ seen Katara this distraught! It was then that the door opened a bit.

"Sharing sob stories?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"No, actually," Katara sneered, looking over at Aang. Toph seemed to get the message. After a bit of silence Toph finally said,

"If he dies… If he dies I might just have to follow him to the spirit world to kick his butt. He can't leave us like that, not after all we've been through together," she said, a sorrowful look on her face. "Yeah, I know he's getting you down, Sugar Queen, but your true love will be back with us soon enough," she said, cracking a light smile. Katara flushed a deep red.  
"I never said—"

"Yes, you did," Sokka finished for her, smirking.

"Thank you very much, Sokka," Toph said. Katara sighed, placing a hand on Aang's cheek. She closed her eyes, images of his airy smile flashing through her head. Surprisingly, both Toph and Sokka walked over and pulled Katara into a hug.

"Everything's gonna be okay," Sokka said soothingly. Katara shook with sobs, her hands clenching Aang's. She tried to hug them back, but all she could think about right now was Aang. Eventually she calmed down, but her eyes were still wet with tears.

"Thanks, guys," she whispered to Sokka and Toph. They pulled away from the embrace but she yanked them back in squeezing them tightly.

"Okay, okay Katara. Save the hugs for your boyfriend," Sokka sighed, rolling his eyes.

"He is not—"

"Yeah, yeah. He's not your boyfriend. We get it." Annoyance flared in her eyes, but it was instantly replaced by sadness. "I'm sure he'll be back with the living soon enough," Sokka murmured. Katara sighed, hugging Aang and resting her head on the young boy's chest. Sokka and Toph silently left the room, leaving her alone with Aang again.

"Please wake up soon," she whispered.


End file.
